


Taking you there

by unknown_knowns



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Life Is Strange: Before The Storm (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Major BtS E2 spoilers, Making Out, Road Trips, Romance, Some angst in the later chapters, fluff early on, works as an ep3 replacement
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 22:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12517736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknown_knowns/pseuds/unknown_knowns
Summary: It's time to leave Arcadia Bay.There's just some ... complications.Chloe and Rachel both make difficult compromises.And their journey doesn't happen like they dreamed it would.But every second spent with each other makes it all worth it.





	1. Chapter 1

Chloe’s life was so fucked.

She was expelled.

She was kinda homeless.

She owed Frank some money, to say the least.

She didn’t know what she was even going to do tomorrow, let alone a week from now.

Or a year.

But somehow, none of that seemed to matter when she was around Rachel.

 

Rachel giggled as the two of them skipped along the dimly-lit streets.

The air was cool and pleasant, with a little wind that put a chill to her face every so often.

There was an oppressive musk of burnt trees, though. Along with the still-visible smoke and fire off in the distance, it was an ever present reminder of the _first_ ridiculously impulsive night Chloe had with Rachel.

But Chloe was smiling.

She was skipping along with her, too.

She had a kind of high in her veins – not one from drugs or alcohol. It was sort of like adrenaline, but that should have worn off a long time ago, and she wasn’t shaky. Just fizzy all over, like a soda can shaken too much.

She felt like she had too much energy and was going to burst, even if she was quite tired from all of what had happened today.

“Oh my god, Rachel, I … can’t believe I did that.”

Rachel laughed gently, and turned around to face Chloe. She walked backwards while she spoke to keep them moving.

Like Chloe, there was a certain unimaginable high in Rachel’s body from a performance gone well. As though performances could go poor around her.

“Did you even _see_ Mr. Keaton’s face? When you first walked out into the stage and then looked into the stage lights like an idiot?”

Chloe laughed herself, and quietly shook her head.

“Was he shitting himself?”

Rachel smiled.

“Absolutely. I think he was maybe five seconds from passing out. He’s so … _dramatic,_ like that.”

Chloe smiled, too. She put her hands in her jeans pockets.

“Kinda fitting huh? Drama teacher? Dramatic?”

Rachel laughed again.

She had this … look on her face, afterwards.

She always had a habit of smiling around Chloe, around most people, really. But this wasn’t the same kind of smile. It didn’t feel like her habitual one.

Her lips parted in very subtle ways near the middle, and they were upturned more than usual.

Plus there was this way that her eyes seemed to sparkle whenever Chloe looked into them.

It sometimes made it hard to keep eye contact, but this wasn’t one of those times.

Chloe hadn’t stopped looking at Rachel in a long time.

“Yeah. You’re funny. And jeez, so talented. After all that complaining you did, you still gave a pretty flawless performance.”

Rachel directly compliment her like that was … weird.

It made Chloe want to giggle nervously or something.

She didn’t, but, the urge was there.

“I mean … I wasn’t that good. I was nothing like you. I looked so ridiculous in that get up and ---”

Rachel frowned a little bit.

Chloe’s breathing hitched.

Rachel walked forwards instead of backwards until she was right in front of Chloe, and looked up to her.

Chloe blinked.

“Chloe Price. You were amazing tonight, okay? You looked … beautiful.”

Fuck.

Was Chloe blushing?

It felt like it.

Fuck.

Don’t let –

Rachel giggled, smiled, and turned around again to start walking along side Chloe once more.

“Made you blush.”

Chloe let out a shaky exhale and looked sidelong at Rachel while they walked side-by-side.

Damn.

“Um. Thanks. You looked … ahhhh, beautiful? Too?”

Rachel let out a pleasant sigh.

“Right? I bet everyone was staring.”

Chloe closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down a little bit.

Damn, how could Rachel do this so easily to her? Like just one little compliment. The fuck. She was better than this.

But she thought back to the play, again.

She was so nervous when she walked out on stage.

She had maybe ten minutes to memorize some stupid dusty ass lines.

Written by a dude who died like a million years ago.

Didn’t even sound like fucking English.

Yet when she actually got out onto the stage, and she locked her eyes with Rachel, a certain calmness came to her.

Maybe a quiet courage, maybe just a desire to impress her, Chloe wasn’t sure.

But she got those goddamn lines out and she even tried _a little bit_ to put some heart into her performance.

Like she cared about it, or something.

Like she could care about anything, anymore.

Chloe Price, giving a fuck after getting expelled and running away from her home.

What a goddamn thought.

But that wasn’t all.

Rachel … went off script.

Chloe didn’t even know how to describe it.

Like a pledge of loyalty?

She was almost embarrassed that Rachel was saying all of this in such a horribly public way – but.

Maybe it was just a character thing.

Rachel was a fucking amazing actor.

Maybe she just wanted to show everyone how good she was at improv, too.

Chloe was probably reading too much into it …

“What ‘cha thinking about?”

Chloe blinked her eyes open, and smiled gently as she looked back to Rachel.

“Um. You. The uh, improv thing you did, there …”

Oh, shit.

Chloe’s eyes widened a bit.

She didn’t mean to bring this up.

She needed more time to think about it –

Rachel blinked.

“Oh. You are, are you?”

At least she didn’t sound offended, or anything.

Chloe breathed in deeply again and nodded gently.

Now that it came out, anyway …

“Yeah, I mean … that was so crazy. Was it from like a movie, or … something?”

Rachel smiled, smiled, smiled.

She took a few seconds to respond, though.

“No. Just what came to mind when I thought about you. As my muse.”

Rachel winked.

Chloe blinked.

Okay – no –

She was _definitely_ blushing now.

Goddamn it Rachel.

The little nervous laugh came out before she could help it, and Rachel giggled along with it.

Was this flirting?

It kinda felt like it.

Maybe she should expect that, after that crazy improv.

Maybe she should expect that, after not knowing what to tell Steph when she asked if Rachel was single.

Maybe she should expect that, from the way Rachel was looking at her.

Rachel sighed contently and it kicked Chloe out of her thinking to look at her again.

“God. I just feel so _awesome_ tonight. So _alive_. Invincible!”

She pointedly stepped towards one of the lampposts they’d been strolling past and gripped it with a hand so she could carelessly twirl around it once.

Chloe watched her with a smile.

She just seemed so happy.

“Yeah. I feel … really crazy tonight, too …”

Rachel stopped, suddenly, and looked to Chloe.

Chloe gulped.

Rachel giggled and stepped in front of her, crossing her arms.

“It’s the high after a good performance.”

Chloe considered this, and looked down to one of her hands.

Still a little jittery and excitable.

“A good performance? It feels like this … every time?”

She looked back up to Rachel.

“Yes. Well, mostly anyway. It helps when everyone knows their lines and … plays along.”

Rachel turned around and started walking again.

“I’m really happy you came to the play tonight, Chloe.”

Chloe followed after her thoughtlessly, as she had done so many times now, and walked a bit faster until she could get side-by-side with her.

“Yeah I’m … yeah. Happy. That’s a good word. Happy.”

It was a good word. Kind of foreign to Chloe’s brain and tongue. Happy.

Rachel pointedly stuck her hand close to Chloe’s, offering it.

Chloe really didn’t have to deliberate long in taking Rachel’s hand as they continued to walk.

But, still, woah.

She was holding Rachel’s hand.

And Rachel offered it first, with so little … anything.

But it didn’t feel wrong.

Chloe felt pretty amazing right now, and she felt even better with Rachel’s hand in hers.

And for a little while, this was enough.

They could just walk down these streets on the way to Rachel’s house, slowly feeling their nerves dance from the mixtures of chemicals in their bodies from the performance they did tonight, gently appreciating the coolness of the air outside of them, gradually being calmed down by nothing more than the sight of one another.

Rachel’s thumb started to rub and roam over whatever it could.

“I still want to leave.”

Chloe nodded, a bit.

“Yeah. Fuck this place.”

Rachel smiled wider, and tugged Chloe closer to her with the grip on her hand until they were facing one another.

“I mean it, Chloe. Tomorrow.”

Chloe gasped before she could help it and gaped her mouth a little.

Tomorrow?

That was –

So soon –

Her mother –

She wouldn’t –

Rachel squeezed Chloe’s hand.

Chloe squeezed right back.

“Tomorrow? But like … my family. And …”

Rachel frowned for just a second or two, and broke away from holding her hand to twirl around once more.

She extended her arms wide on either side of her body.

“Yes, Chloe. Tomorrow. We’re going to fix up that truck of yours and skip town. We can always come back after a while when our families realize just how much they miss and want us.”

Chloe wasn’t convinced she could honestly leave her mother behind just like that so quickly, but …

She was siding with David so much. And not really listening to her at all about … anything.

Ugh.

Maybe Rachel was right.

“Where would we go?”

Rachel crossed her arms and smiled again.

“Where _wouldn’t_ we go? Where do you want to go first?”

Chloe thought about it for a few seconds.

“I’d like to just point my truck in a direction and keep driving until it won’t take me any farther away. Some nice, big, open roads …”

She put her hands in her pockets, since she really didn’t know what to do with them any more.

Rachel smiled wider.

“Yeah? Just you, me, our truck, and the open road? Mindlessly racking up the miles while we listen to music and I rest my head on your shoulder?”

Chloe blinked.

Rachel’s voice got a bit softer.

“I can just see it now, with us pulling into some gas station, and some creep with a big beer belly hitting on me when I pump the gas … and you giving him a piece of your mind – like – this is my truck. This is my girl. Get lost.”

Rachel made it sound … so easy.

Chloe could visualize that perfectly, too.

It didn’t even feel weird to hear ‘her girl’.

It just felt right.

Like they really could just pack everything up and be out of here tomorrow.

Like they really could make this work.

Like Rachel really was …

But the doubts came, soon.

Nothing else had gone right in Chloe’s life.

Why on earth would this?

Rachel continued on.

“Maybe even have some polite, but, let’s say _confused_ attendants asking if we want one bed or two at some shitty motel ---”

Chloe finally sighed.

“Rachel.”

“--- and we’d be able to say, hey, this is ---”

“--- _Rachel._ ”

The two of them went quiet for a bit.

Rachel had her frown for a few seconds.

Chloe tried to steel herself for this conversation, because boy this might end up being painful.

“Look I … I fucking love hearing you talk like this. About … us. But if you’re not … serious. About everything. About leaving. About … I just … It’s just going to be a reminder that _nothing_ goes right for me and I … I don’t think I can handle that.”

Rachel had this look of shock on her face.

Chloe had only genuinely shocked Rachel once or twice before, and it was kind of a cute look on her.

But fuck, she wasn’t saying anything.

She was just processing.

That can’t be a good sign, right?

“Um … say something … please?”

Rachel stepped a bit closer.

“Chloe. I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. What would it take to convince you?”

Chloe really didn’t have to think about it much.

Vocalizing it, though …

That was another ball game.

“Um. How about … ah.”

Chloe looked away.

Fuck, she was probably blushing again, wasn’t she.

Rachel canted her head to the side.

“How about what?”

Chloe opened her mouth, but genuinely just couldn’t force the damn words out.

God she was pathetic.

Instead of that, she looked back to Rachel, pursed her lips a little bit, leaned forward a little bit, and raised her eyebrows slightly, playfully.

Fuck she had no idea what she was doing.

“Oh.”

Oh?

Fucking oh?

What the hell does that –

Rachel looked so flat and –

Rachel stepped closer again, until there was no distance between the two of them.

She looked down to Chloe’s shoes.

Chloe looked down to her shoes.

Rachel gently took both of Chloe’s hands into her own.

Chloe’s heart was going a million miles a goddamn hour and was going to burst out of her chest at this rate.

Holy shit.

Rachel was –

Rachel leaned up –

She closed her eyes –

Chloe closed hers –

They kissed.

All at once everything stopped for Chloe.

There was no play, there was no money drug dealers wanted out of her, there was no fire burning all around Arcadia, there was no David, there was no nothing.

The only thing in her world now was Rachel, here, kissing her.

Squeezing her hands every few seconds.

Pushing in with just the _right_ amount of effort and her lips were so warm and tasted so pleasant, better somehow than any food Chloe remembered, and more exciting than anything else.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds, and all of the air had officially left Chloe’s lungs.

Her breathing was shallow, jittery, excited and –

“Convincing enough for you?”

Holy shit Rachel.

“Yeah ---”

Chloe basically moaned this out her voice was so breathless and distant – all of the pretext of her being some confident badass punk was totally stripped away now.

With just one goddamn kiss Chloe was looking at her like she was the only light in the world left, anymore.

She couldn’t look away.

She didn’t want to look away.

She didn’t even finish saying ‘yeah’ before Rachel pushed into her again.

Only this time, her mouth was open, and her tongue was assaulting Chloe’s lips.

Fuck, were they making out, now?

Goddamn, Rachel.

Chloe learned she didn’t have a bone in her body to resist Rachel with, and so her lips parted and Rachel’s tongue entered in short order.

She did what she could to follow Rachel’s lead and keep up but just –

Everything was so overwhelming.

Chloe felt dizzy now and –

The only thing keeping her steady was Rachel’s hands on her neck, stroking delicately, indiscriminately.

Chloe’s hands wanted to do _something_ , _anything_ –

They moved up to Rachel’s sides and almost touched her but –

Fuck, did Rachel even want that?

Rachel was touching her.

Rachel’s goddamn tongue was in her goddamn mouth.

The little moment of self-doubt melted away quickly.

She put her hands on Rachel’s sides and rubbed affectionately.

Chloe stopped thinking, after that.

She just consumed everything Rachel had to give.

Every little movement of her tongue and lips that she could taste, every little inch of fiber of her clothing she could feel, every little slight sound from her increasingly heavy breathing – just – everything –

 

Rachel pulled away, at some point.

Chloe didn’t know what the concept of time was anymore so she couldn’t say how long it had been.

But she did know she blinked her eyes open stupidly and gaped her mouth and kept her hands up as though her body was simply incapable of processing the fact Rachel wasn’t right there anymore.

A second or two too late she managed to close her mouth, she managed to lower her hands, she managed to process this all.

Kind of.

Chloe just had this jittery feeling –

She exhaled contently, happily, and looked down to the concrete underneath them, up to the street light above them, and back down to Rachel afterwards.

She squeezed her hands tight and bounced up and down on her feet like _what_ –

“Holy shit.”

Holy shit, Rachel.

If there ever was way to convince Chloe that Rachel cared …

“Right?”

Rachel had this adorable little proud smile on her face, watching the way Chloe responded after processing the information that she had just made out with her.

“I ---”

“--- Shh. We’ll have plenty of time to talk later.”

Rachel giggled, and grasped once again at Chloe’s hand to playfully tug her forward.

Only this time, there wasn’t a quiet dread that she was being lead to somewhere stupid, somehow.

Some place that Chloe probably didn’t belong in, like theater class, or some place that Chloe might get in trouble in somehow, or none of that.

Wherever Rachel took her when she held her hand like this, she knew it would be the right place for Chloe to be.

Just the simple fact that she was by her side confirmed that.

Chloe didn’t really want to talk right now, anyway.

She was so overwhelmed with anything and everything that she just absent-mindedly watched Rachel’s hair as the wind interacted with it.

Chloe always really liked pretty hair.

 

Rachel’s plan was simple enough.

She’d been saving some money.

Apparently her allowance was bonkers high and she had a couple hundred stashed away.

It was … something.

It’d last them a little while.

Rachel’s house was so nice.

Chloe felt like even the wood used in the stairs --- wood specifically designed to be stepped on and worn down --- was more expensive than anything she had ever owned.

Rachel’s room was huge, too.

Just her damn closet felt like it was half of the size of Chloe’s room.

Chloe was kind of in a mindless, unprocessing stupor with her hands jammed into her pockets while she watched Rachel pack up her clothes, money, and other supplies.

Rachel noticed her staring, at some point, and found the look of concentration on her face concerning.

She stopped packing to walk in front of Chloe.

She carefully placed a hand on Chloe’s cheek, and leaned in for another kiss, although this one was brief.

It wasn’t as breath-destroying and overwhelming as the prior kisses, but no less reassuring.

“Hey. We’re going to be okay.”

Chloe smiled.

Rachel smiled.

She could believe it, somehow, when Rachel said it after kissing her, and while she was holding her cheek, like this.

 

Soon enough, Rachel was done, and they left her house.

 

They went to the junkyard.

 

Chloe had the hood of the truck up and poured over the engine again.

It didn’t seem unfixable to her, but she didn’t have what she needed right now to get this damn thing working.

But it’d been a while.

“Chloe … come here.”

And she wasn’t making any progress.

With a weary sigh, Chloe closed the hood of the truck and walked around to the back, where Rachel was.

They’d set up an impromptu bed in the back of the truck, with some of the too-nice bedding from Rachel’s room working to smooth out the unforgiving metal of the truck.

Rachel was already laying down.

Chloe mindlessly got into the back and under the sheets to snuggle up into Rachel’s front.

They both smiled again, with their hands on each other’s sides.

“You’ve been staring at that engine for a while … what’s the damage?”

Chloe closed her eyes and sighed, a little bit.

She leaned forward to rest her forehead on Rachel’s while she spoke.

“It’s not hopeless, but not good. I need some tools and some new spark plugs … that alone is probably more than whatever money you’ve got.”

Rachel sighed herself, but pushed herself the tiny immoral amount of distance still between their lips for another quick assuring kiss.

They both closed their eyes.

Chloe really fucking loved these little kisses and made a pleased sigh when they broke apart.

“It’s ok. We’ll find another way to skip town.”

Chloe grunted.

“No I ---”

Chloe opened her eyes, and so did Rachel, who blinked a few times.

“--- I … I think I know where I can find some stuff.”

Her dad’s garage still had some tools in it. Probably some of David’s, too. Those would be fun to steal, since all the dickhead did all day was work on cars, anyway.

Rachel processed the information for a second or two before sighing contently and melting more into her pillow.

“I guess that’s what we’ll do tomorrow, then.”

Chloe had so many questions she wanted to ask Rachel, but.

She yawned.

She was also so fucking tired and just wanted this day to be over.

She didn’t want to think about being expelled or whatever.

She just wanted to think about Rachel.

About them.

About some fucking hick with a double-digit IQ and a triple-digit income and a huge fat beer belly hootin’ and hollering at her girl, and the way Chloe was totally going to knock him the fuck out.

And how Rachel would be cheering her on every step of the goddamn way.

“Yeah … I’m dead, Rach. Night.”

Chloe closed her eyes.

Rachel raised a hand to gently stroke at her cheek, again.

“Okay. Good night, Chloe. Sleep well.”

Chloe couldn’t help a little smile at this, and leaned forward for another little brief kiss.

“I will with you here, with me tonight.”

Rachel kissed her another time, too.

 

“I’ll be here with you _every_ night, Chloe.”

 

Chloe kind of desperately needed to hear that.

It was the only thought she wanted in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both of the girls make progress towards getting out of this fucking town.
> 
> With some ... concessions. 
> 
> Hopefully Rachel understands.
> 
> Hopefully Chloe understands.

Rachel smiled gently at the sight of waking up to Chloe snoozing delicately in front of her.

Chloe slept with her mouth gaping just a little bit and while she didn’t snore, you could still hear her breathing pretty clearly.

Last night was magical.

A lot of yesterday, actually.

Rachel didn’t really make a habit out of sharing personal details about her family with just anyone.

She knew Chloe would be understanding and supportive, though.

Maybe more supportive than she should be.

Rachel frowned, a little bit.

It was kind of her fault that Chloe was expelled now.

Not _entirely_ , of course, but.

It was her fault that Chloe skipped.

The consequence of her putting punished so severely really put a fine point in just how much trust Chloe put into Rachel.

Skip class? Absolutely.

Jump off a train? Sure, why not.

Steal some wine? I mean, wine is wine.

Rachel thought about all of their interactions, and even when it put Chloe at risk to go along with it, she still did, usually with a smile and a stupid joke.

But last night …

Last night was something else.

Rachel had to show her all of this trust wasn’t unnoticed.

And Chloe, in her ineffectual complaining and all, _still_ went along with something absurd.

Something impulsive.

Something magical.

And Chloe was so beautiful when she walked out on stage in that costume, even if she was so obviously nervous and uncertain about what was going on.

But then she locked her eyes with Rachel.

But then she breathed in deep.

But then she went along with everything, and gave a very respectable performance, especially considering her lack of practice.

All because Rachel wanted her to.

Rachel would never forget the look on Chloe’s face when she went off-script and started to speak honestly and directly.

For perhaps the first time since they’ve met.

 

Rachel raised one of her hands up to gently stroke at Chloe’s cheek while she remembered last night in more relief.

Especially that kiss.

She closed her eyes and relieved it, a little bit.

It almost made her blush now to think of how breathless and distant Chloe sounded when she said ‘yes’.

Rachel honestly didn’t ever see herself kissing a girl so romantically before she met Chloe.

If Chloe wasn’t …

Rachel sighed gently.

It was hard to shake the feeling that Chloe deserved something more than her.

Chloe’s life had taken such a sharp turn for the worse, and she really needed someone who could be completely honest with her 24/7 and just be a fucking human being every so often.

But that wasn’t Rachel.

She was an actor.

A mask wearer.

Just like everyone else in her fucking plastic family.

Chloe just didn’t know what she was getting into.

Rachel would hurt her eventually, somehow, someway.

She just fucking knew it.

 

But she was willing to try.

 

Chloe had earned that, at least, from all of the trust and now affection she had placed into Rachel.

 

Plus …

Chloe was amazing, in her own right.

Maybe Rachel could be a little selfish in enjoying this out of Chloe.

Chloe didn’t think it, but Rachel knew she was smart, and talented, and capable.

She just needed someone to encourage her meaningfully instead of tear her down.

She needed less stepladders in her life and more Rachels.

It helped that she was pretty cute, too.

Little beanie, little smiles, the way she couldn’t do _anything_ without seeming like she had too much energy and was just too excited.

How awkward she was about asking for a kiss.

How cute.

Chloe would be an amazing woman in a few years, Rachel just knew it.

She wanted to be part of her life, in whatever capacity she could.

She was expecting a trusted friend, but …

A lover could do, too.

Ugh.

This is definitely not how straight girls think.

Whatever, problem for another day.

Rachel dispelled the thoughts, and leaned a bit forward to place a gentle kiss on Chloe’s forehead.

Not so as to wake her.

 

“Ain’t that cute.”

Rachel blinked her eyes open and quickly sat up.

That wasn’t Chloe’s voice, and it certainly wasn’t her own.

She figured Chloe wouldn’t be awaken by such movements given it was still kinda early in the morning and Chloe seemed like the kind of girl to need very particular motivation to get out of bed.

“Who –”

Rachel looked around and saw Frank leaning on the side of the truck, on the other side of Chloe, resting his arms on the truck’s back walls with his hands loosely coupled together in front of him.

“Oh. Frank.”

Rachel had a rather casual relationship with Frank.

He was a drug dealer, and it wasn’t that Rachel _wasn’t_ interested, but he just wouldn’t deal to her for some reason.

No one else said Frank refused to deal to them.

So it put a little bit of distance between them.

There was something Frank wasn’t telling her, and while that feeling was incredibly comfortable and familiar, it didn’t mean she had to like it.

So her voice came out a little disappointed, and a little relieved.

Disappointed that it was Frank, but relieved it wasn’t someone even worse.

“Imma keep things quick and simple. I need my money.”

Rachel blinked.

Money?

“What money?”

She was genuinely confused at this – she didn’t owe Frank a dollar.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes before nodding at Chloe.

“She owes me. A lot. Come. Let’s talk.”

He pushed himself off of the truck and walked around to the front of it.

Rachel frowned and watched him go around.

Chloe owed him money?

Oh no, Chloe …

She sighed, and very gently worked her way out of the blankets and off of the back of the truck.

Chloe still hadn’t woken up and she didn’t want to change that.

Lord knows she deserved some rest.

Thankfully, Rachel was still pretty much fully dressed, or at least dressed enough to be decent.

She only had a tank, jeans, and shoes on, but it was better than being naked, especially around Frank.

She walked around to the front of the truck and crossed her arms to have the warmth of her hands keep her shoulders warm.

It was kind of cold so early in the morning and so late in the year.

He crossed his arms too, but it was more defensive than not.

 

“We don’t have your money, Frank.”

A lie, but Rachel was good at lying. They had more than enough probably to pay whatever Chloe owed him, unless she was seriously in the red.

But that money couldn’t be used for this.

That money was already earmarked.

Frank sighed wearily in response and shook his head quietly.

“You don’t have to make this so hard. Chloe’s got 300 to her name. Just pay up, and we’ll be done with it.”

Rachel frowned.

That was a decent whack of money.

It wouldn’t _ruin_ them to pay it back, but it would seriously strain their operation, especially if Chloe was wrong and they needed even more to fix the truck with.

She couldn’t pay him back.

And then what?

He’d hurt Chloe, like how the other assholes hurt Drew?

No.

That wasn’t even an option in Rachel’s mind.

Maybe …

Maybe there was another way out of this.

Rachel suddenly smiled.

All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.

Frank raised an eyebrow.

Rachel uncrossed her arms and unsubtly cat walked over to him, before placing a hand on his cheek and giggling.

“Maybe there’s … other ways we can deal with this problem? We really need the money, Frank …”

He blinked, and uncrossed one of his own hands to grasp at Rachel’s arm, but didn’t pull her hand away.

His mouth gaped a little bit – but just a little bit – before he scoffed and shook his head.

“C’mon, I’m not that dumb. You literally just woke up next to Chloe. Clearly she’s ---”

Damn it.

Rachel could push harder, though.

Her expression didn’t crack at all, and she kept playing with his cheek.

Words were easy to Rachel.

She hardly even had to think about what to say, it just came out automatically.

“--- she’s a very good friend that I trust the world to, but nothing else. You see I’m still clothed.”

Frank considered this for a few seconds.

The fact he was considering it meant Rachel could probably seal this deal.

She giggled again, inched a bit closer, and brought both of her arms around Frank’s neck to loosely hug him.

And she gave him a quick, gentle, but seemingly affectionate peck on the lips.

Frank blinked and blinked, but didn’t resist any step of this.

One of his hands eventually came to pet at her long hair a little bit – and ugh, it probably looked like shit after sleeping but whatever.

“Alright. If you say so.”

Rachel smiled and removed her arms, but stayed close to Frank.

“I do …”

She looked around, and saw his RV off in the distance a little bit.

“Chloe has something to do today. Keep your RV here. We’ll … talk, later. About what I can do for you.”

Frank smiled, barely, but still, a smile was good.

“Okay. Just … don’t let her find out. You might see it like this, but I know she sure as fuck doesn’t.”

Rachel smiled some more, and pleasantly nodded.

Frank turned around and walked back to his RV.

 

Fuck.

 

Mask off.

Rachel sighed wearily and frowned deeply.

She rested against the front of the truck with her arms crossed and considered things.

She didn’t …

Feel amazing about this, or anything.

Chloe would almost certainly see this as cheating, and she’d almost certainly be right.

But they needed that money.

It couldn’t be spent dealing with this issue.

And she wasn’t going to let that debt become a problem now that these assholes were actually hurting people for not ponying up.

This was just a way to fix everything.

Rachel could handle this.

She could handle anything if it put her one step closer to her goals.

Chloe just …

She just didn’t need to find out.

She can’t handle something like this, probably.

She didn’t see relationships as so flexible as Rachel did.

Rachel probably trusted Chloe more than anyone else in her life right now – especially her Dad – but.

She couldn’t be trusted with this.

This was a quiet burden Rachel and Rachel alone would bear.

Chloe needed the hope, right now.

She needed something going right in her life.

She needed a light.

She needed a rock, and a pillar of strength.

Rachel wasn’t any of those things but –

She could sure act like it.

She could make Chloe feel amazing.

And Chloe could make her feel amazing.

Rachel sniffled a little bit.

So what if things weren’t meant to be perfect.

So what.

So.

What.

Chloe was amazing enough to make this all work out, somehow.

Things would be okay.

Fuck.

Rachel wiped off a tear from her eye and went back to the back of her truck to enjoy more time snuggled into Chloe.

She had a vague feeling it might be last she could for perhaps the rest of the day.

 

\---

 

When Chloe woke up, Rachel was there.

Probably the single best thing for anxiety was to wake up with Rachel right there, smiling gently, playing with some part of her cheek.

Even with a little bit of her perfect makeup wearing off, even with her hair a little frizzy, even with some obvious signs of fatigue, Chloe couldn’t help but to think she was staring at the most beautiful woman in the world.

And she couldn’t help but lean forward for just a quick peck of a kiss.

Rachel returned the kiss with a pleasant sigh.

“Morning, _cutie_.”

Chloe smiled, and could get used to Rachel calling her ‘cutie’.

“Hey, _babe_. Did you sleep well?”

Rachel nodded pleasantly, closed her eyes, and inexplicably nestled her face into Chloe’s collarbones and neck to place little kisses there.

“Yeah. What about you?”

Fuck that felt nice to have Rachel’s exhaling colliding with her neck, like that.

She kinda wanted her to bite it a little bit –

No, come on. They just woke up.

Chloe shook her head very gently as though the motion could physically dispel the thought somehow.

She actually slept well, too, somehow.

No nightmares.

That was … kind of rare, these days.

At least when she fell asleep and didn’t pass out from alcohol or something, anyway.

Chloe thoughtlessly placed another little kiss atop Rachel’s head.

“Really good. Peaceful. But I told you it’d be good, so long as you were here.”

This came out just a little bit playful, and Rachel responded with an amused chuckle.

She kissed her way up Chloe’s neck to give her another peck on the lips.

“It’s a good thing we’re so close, then … otherwise I’d have to make you work for sleeping with me.”

Jeez.

Chloe really couldn’t help how attractive she found the idea of Rachel teasing her, like this.

Or kissing her.

Whenever she wanted to.

Damn that was … that was a nice thought.

Fuck she was probably blushing again.

“I uhm … yeah … yeah that’s a good thing. Definitely.”

Chloe kind of hated how easily Rachel could melt her into a blushy insecure mess, but also she kind of liked it.

It felt like she was being genuine and sincere with Rachel, right here, right now.

And Rachel smiled so wide after seeing a more blushy, awkward Chloe.

Chloe was being genuine, and Rachel accepted her all of the same.

Rachel giggled contently, and placed another little kiss on Chloe’s lips.

Chloe closed her eyes and relaxed a bit.

She could honestly lay like this and rest for the entire day, but …

“Okay, we should really get up and going … there’s always tonight and next morning for more snuggles.”

Rachel wasn’t nearly as lazy as Chloe was, of course, and while she too enjoyed the idea, she also had … something to take care of.

Chloe did, too, really.

With a groan, Chloe sat up, and Rachel sat up with her.

Rachel hummed thoughtfully as she got out of the back of the truck, and placed her hands on her own sides with a wry smile.

“So. You saw me change. It’s only fair I get to watch you, once …”

Chloe emitted that nervous giggling-laughing sound again, and Rachel giggled with it.

But she was so down for that idea.

A bit later, after Rachel ‘helped’ Chloe change and she got a kiss for good luck, Chloe took off from the junkyard to go back to her house.

Or rather, the home she used to have.

It didn’t feel like home anymore with dick-for-brains living in it now.

Only about halfway on the skateboard ride back home did Chloe realize David would probably be home right now.

Fuck.

Whatever.

Maybe he was in the kitchen with her mom or something.

Crawling all over her.

Ugh, thanks for that mental image, Rachel.

Fucking stepladder.

Whatever.

Chloe kinda didn’t care if it created another confrontation with him, she realized.

Who cares.

It wasn’t like she’d have to deal with the consequences of him being upset.

Somehow, she excited herself a little bit with the idea of stealing his tools.

It’d probably interrupt his stupid hobby of fixing up that stupid car all day long.

She wanted to annoy or inconvenience him.

 

Chloe kicked her skateboard to the side into the grass as she pulled up to her old house.

She hooked her hands into her jeans, and sighed, looking at her house.

She looked over to the mailbox, almost out of instinct, and frowned.

She knew it wasn’t going to have anything from Max in it, but …

She couldn’t help herself from quickly checking it anyway.

She was so pathetic about this, sometimes.

 

Afterwards, she opened the garage door and –

David was there, with the car parked inside.

He was running over the exterior with a buffing cloth.

Fuck.

The garage looked so totally different now, too – how? She’d only been gone for one fucking day.

Could her dad’s body at least get cold before some dickhead pissed all over the memories she had?

David noticed her, and sighed wearily.

She grit her teeth and shoved her hands into her jeans pockets again.

Here it comes.

“Chloe. I want to talk.”

Fuck you.

“And I don’t want to talk, so I guess we’re at an impasse.”

David frowned a little bit and stood up straight.

“Listen, young lady …”

Fuck you. Listen to this.

“Look dude, I _just_ need some tools then I’m gone.”

He hesitated, a little bit.

“Tools? … what kind of tools?”

Chloe crossed her own arms. Was David going along with this? Or just curious?

“I need a socket wrench and a socket set that’d fit an American car. So not metric.”

David blinked at this, and seemed to have a moment of consideration.

“You have a project car?”

He looked from Chloe back down to his own car, thoughtfully.

Dude don’t ---

Chloe groaned.

“Yea-whatever-I-guess. Where they at.”

He sighed wearily, and shook his head slightly.

“There’s a set in the back.”

Chloe watched him for a second or two too long, as if disbelieving he’d go along with this.

But whatever.

She uncrossed her arms and quickly made her way to the back.

David was working on an American car himself, so it probably shouldn’t have surprised Chloe too much that there was exactly what she was looking for at the far end of the garage, on some wooden project table.

She closed up the socket set – it was in one of those black molded plastic containers with a convenient handle for carrying and some straps to keep it tidy and safe in case you, you know, carry it while on a skateboard or something.

With the tools in hand, she turned around and David was _right_ there.

Jesus.

“Jesus, David. Don’t do that.”

He stood firm, but kept his hands by his side. His expression was very flat and neutral.

“ _Chloe_. I need … to talk to you.”

Chloe looked down to the tools in her hands.

She _guessed_ he was being kind of cool right now, if a bit of a tight-ass.

Whatever.

She looked up with her own frown.

“About? You’re not going to convince me to come back.”

David sighed again.

“Listen, Chloe, I don’t …”

A frown.

“I don’t care that we’re not on good terms. And I know you don’t, either. But I do care about your mother … and I know you do, too.”

Chloe’s frown deepened.

Nothing he said was disagreeable so far.

“And?”

He was quiet for a second or two.

“And us being like … this, is really hurting her.”

This asshat was going to use her relationship with her mother to manipulate her into forgetting stuff?

Fuck you.

Chloe shoved her way past him.

“ _Fuck you_. Maybe you should have fucking thought about that before sticking your dick all in my dad’s stuff.”

Chloe was _trying_ to sound tough and uncaring at this, but there was a little waver at the end of her voice.

Just --- _fuck_.

“Chloe.”

She stopped halfway to the exit of the garage and turned around with a deep, unrelenting frown, only now her body was shaking slightly.

She didn’t want to have a conversation that reminded her of her dad, but that was kind of impossible when they were sitting in the garage.

So many fucking memories this dickhead was ruining.

“ _What_ , David? What? Haven’t you done enough? Just … let me go.”

David closed his eyes, looked down, and crossed his arms.

He slowly walked over to the back of the car, to be closer to Chloe, but still with some distance between them.

“I’m willing to make some … compromises. But your mom _needs_ to think things are good between us.”

He looked up to her.

Chloe shook her head.

“Whatever. I’m leaving, David.”

She turned around, and was at the edge of the garage, before she heard David’s voice again.

“I bet the car you’re working on will look flawless when you’re done with it.”

She scoffed.

“Yeah I kinda doubt that.”

He sighed.

“You could be so much more if you just stopped doubting yourself so much.”

This wasn’t actually self-doubt, so much as an understanding that she was working on a beater truck from the fucking 1950s or something.

But, still.

The reassurance was … weird, coming from David.

It felt so genuine, too.

It didn’t stop Chloe from moving over to get her skateboard, but she did pause in taking off to look back at David.

“I’m not coming back, David.”

He sighed.

“Be realistic, Chloe. You need ---”

Chloe almost felt smug, at this.

“--- Money? Yeah. We got that. We got money, we got supplies, we got a truck. We’re good for a while, dude. I don’t need you. But you need me.”

David blinked.

This certainly seemed to surprise him, as much as it was possible to surprise David, anyway.

Fucking emotionless husk.

“Who is ‘we’, Chloe?”

Chloe blinked.

Oh, right.

“My girlfriend and I.”

David crossed his arms and looked down again with another weary sigh.

Chloe almost thought about skating away, but something was compelling her stay for just another few moments.

“I see. New deal, then. We’ll give you a week to do … whatever, then we try and reset things next week?  You always say you wanted space.”

Was that fucking David fucking Madsen _listening_ to her when she was saying what she wanted?

Chloe almost had a heart attack at the thought.

Not really, but still.

Chloe sighed.

“I don’t know, David … this is really hard for me.”

He nodded.

“It’s really hard for me, too. I lost my daughter before I could get much experience raising her.”

… Oh.

Damn, that.

Chloe wasn’t expecting that.

She didn’t know what to say.

“I … I’m sorry, dude, … I guess.”

He sighed.

“I don’t … want your sympathy, Chloe. Just … try to understand that I’m _trying_. Can you please try for your mother? Next week?”

Chloe looked away from David off into the distance.

Maybe she could.

Rachel probably wouldn’t want to hear this.

Later conversation.

“Yeah I … I guess. One more try.”

It came out so breathless and distant.

Fuck.

Did she just agree to working with David?

Whatever.

She could just …

She could just skip with Rachel, anyway, past the week.

This was just to keep them happy in the mean time.

So they didn’t report her missing to the police or something.

Yeah.

“Alright then. One week. I expect to see this … project car of yours, then.”

He sighed.

“And your girlfriend.”

What a fucking thought.

Rachel meeting David.

Chloe just exhaled pleasantly, and started to skate away.

“One week, David. No promises on the girl seeing you, though.”

 

Fuck.

That didn’t go at all how she thought it would.

But at least she had the tools she was after.

She didn’t even know how she could _begin_ tell Rachel about this.

Whatever.

 

Progress to getting out of here.

That’s all that mattered.

 

\---

 

Fuck.

That didn’t go at all how she thought it would.

But at least Frank forgave Chloe’s debt.

She didn’t even know how she could _begin_ to tell Chloe about this.

Whatever.

Progress to getting out of here.

That’s all that mattered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe talks about her dad.
> 
> Rachel talks about her dad.
> 
> Someone watches them go, proudly.

“Have I ever told you you’re pretty hot whenever you’re working on the truck?”

Chloe blushed slightly and looked back to Rachel, who was calmly and lazily sitting on some chair they’d found in the junkyard, sipping some lemonade.

“Oh … a few times now.”

Rachel was just so persistent in teasing that Chloe was getting a bit better at handling it.

Not that either were complaining about the arrangement.

In fact, Chloe fucking loved the way Rachel teased her, and it put a sort of awkward smile on her face as she looked back to her girlfriend.

Rachel smiled too, though that wasn’t saying all that much.

“Just a few times?”

Her tone was dripping with playfulness, and it was eventually infectious – a warm, bubbly, fuzzy kind of feeling.

Chloe giggled and pushed herself off from the truck’s front.

She turned around to fully face Rachel and cross her arms, now grinning.

“Okay … maybe _all_ of the times.”

Rachel’s smile got wider and she sipped a bit from her lemonade.

“Maybe it bears repeating.”

Chloe exhaled, amused, and looked down for a few seconds.

It felt like her blush was getting worse.

“Yeah …”

Sip.

“So …?”

Chloe blinked and looked up.

Rachel was suddenly right in front of her.

Not that Chloe objected to this, but her hands were greasy and her hair was messy and she was sweaty and –

Rachel didn’t care.

She swooped forward a bit more to give Chloe a brief but affectionate kiss before pulling away and looking under the truck’s hood herself, although more for show than anything else.

She wasn’t as much of a gearhead as Chloe was, and all she could tell about a car this old was there was, indeed, a giant slab of engine right there.

Chloe was slightly better at dealing with the teasing, but definitely not the kissing, and Rachel was just such an affectionate person.

So it took her a few seconds for her brain to reboot and process it all, but eventually she turned to look at the engine with Rachel.

“Uhhh …”

But she kinda forgot what they were talking about.

Useless.

Rachel giggled and looked sidelong to Chloe, who nervously looked away when she saw that impish grin.

“Hey.”

Rachel placed one of her hands on Chloe’s shoulder and rubbed at it consolingly.

Chloe sighed gently and looked back to Rachel with a warm smile.

“Hay is for horses.”

Rachel laughed, properly, and shook her head with an earnest smile.

“Oh, _god_. That’s such a lame joke.”

Chloe smiled, smiled, smiled, and looked off to the engine.

“Yeah. One of my dad’s favorites.”

 

Quiet.

 

Rachel bit her lip and didn’t remove her hand, in fact redoubling its rubbing when Chloe got that … look on her face.

She so desperately wanted to comfort her about this, but, what do you even say?

What even can you say?

“I would have loved to hear him tell it, then. I bet he’d make me laugh just as easily as you do.”

Chloe got her smile back and laughed distantly, a little awkwardly.

“I would have loved for him to meet you.”

Chloe looked back to Rachel.

Rachel scooted a bit closer until she was arm-to-arm adjacent, removed her hand on Chloe’s shoulder, and replaced it with her head.

Chloe sighed more deeply and closed her eyes for a few seconds, slowly looking forward, even though her eyes were unseeing.

When Rachel spoke next, her voice was so gentle and quiet.

“What was he like?”

Chloe exhaled heavily, and wasn’t sure herself how much she wanted to talk about this.

Despite the fact it had been years, it still felt so fresh in her mind, like it had just happened yesterday and the funeral was next week.

But …

It wanted to come out, and Rachel was a good listener if nothing else.

“He was … awesome.”

Her voice was fragile too, and she kinda fucking hated it, but whatever.

Rachel wasn’t going to judge her for it.

“Yeah?”

Chloe nodded slowly and opened her eyes.

“Yeah.”

Rachel smiled a little bit, somehow.

“Did you guys do a lot of stuff together?”

Chloe exhaled, amused.

“Only everything. If there’s a reason I like doing something it’s … probably because he got me into it.”

Rachel smiled a bit wider.

“I severely doubt he encouraged you to wail on cars with a baseball bat.”

Another amused exhale, and Chloe kind of loved how Rachel could make any conversation easier like this with some careful and well-timed jokes.

“Nah, that’s … something I picked up on the side.”

Rachel hummed approvingly.

“Very talented of you. What did he try to get you into?”

Chloe shrugged.

“Uhm … damn, like, anything and everything? He tried to get me into a few sports, into trying a few instruments, painting, drawing, photography … shit, dude even tried to get me into cars ‘n everything.”

Another approving, thoughtful hum.

“He could do all of that? Sounds like a true renaissance man.”

The compliment was genuine; Rachel’s dad was more of an academic than an artist.

Chloe nodded again, and smiled herself somehow a little bit.

“Yeah. He could do anything he set his mind to …”

She blinked once or twice.

“Just like you.”

Rachel smiled even wider, and wasn’t about to let that moment go, so she removed her head and gently manipulated Chloe’s face into looking at hers with a hand.

Simple, quick, affectionate kiss.

Chloe exhaled contently, and afterwards the two returned to their old positions with Chloe looking at the engine and Rachel on her shoulder.

“What about, um, yours?”

Rachel stiffened.

Chloe noticed.

“Fucking cheating _jerk_. What more is there to say?”

Cold and harsh and unforgiving – Chloe wasn’t sure if this was usual for Rachel or not.

But this spite felt unique.

“Before all of this … bullshit, though. You said um … trusted him a lot, right?”

It was Rachel’s turn to sigh.

“Yeah. As much as I could trust anyone.”

That phrasing felt very intentional to Chloe, and she hummed thoughtfully.

“Did he get you into … acting or, what?”

Rachel blinked.

“You could … say that, I suppose.”

Chloe blinked.

Rachel had this habit of talking indirectly whenever the subject was herself, and Chloe still wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

Usually Chloe just let it go, but …

“What do you mean? Did you ever play that improv game with him?”

Rachel scoffed.

What an idea.

Her vagueness wasn’t even thoughtful at this point; she was just so used to deflecting stuff away from her specifically.

She had an image to maintain.

But Chloe was …

Different.

She didn’t care about any of that stuff.

“No, I just … _ugh_.”

A speechless Rachel was a pretty rare sight, and Chloe didn’t take it for granted.

“He’s just so … cold. Sometimes I needed … I don’t fucking know, maybe a hug and a pat on the head?”

Quiet.

Chloe wondered what it’d be like if her dad wasn’t physically affectionate, and it didn’t jive well.

“But that’s never what I got. He’s just this … unfeeling robot. I think I’ve seen him get mad once? When he almost lost the election and … I don’t know.”

She huffed a little.

There was so much more inflection in her voice than Chloe was used to hearing – it didn’t sound controlled, or planned, or playful.

Just raw.

Genuine.

Chloe wondered how often anyone saw this side of Rachel.

“Damn. That sucks.”

She blinked.

“Sounds a bit like dick-for-brains.”

Rachel blinked.

“Who? Oh, _duh_ , David. Yeah-I-mean.”

Another huff.

“He doesn’t treat me like a dog or something. He believes in me, and they’re proud of me, and they encourage me, just … sometimes I need more than words.”

Chloe bit her lip.

Should she bring up the conversation she had with David?

Where she agreed to come back later, and try resetting stuff?

Where the dude actually fucking told her to believe in herself, and encouraged her?

Ugh.

Maybe it would be easier if Rachel just saw the stupid Nazi side of him.

Chloe still wasn’t sure herself if what she saw earlier was genuine, or all a ploy to get her back in the house.

It sure felt genuine, though …

“Yeah …”

The silence that followed felt slightly awkward, so Chloe tried to do the thing that Rachel did when talking about heavy stuff.

“Sometimes you need a big ‘ol kiss from your _girlfriend._ ”

And crack a joke.

Rachel exhaled, amused, and pushed herself off of Chloe to cross her arms and face her.

Chloe watched her go, and somehow already missed the physical contact, even though she was literally only like two feet away.

“I think I’m all kissed out for now. But I’ll keep the offer in mind, thanks.”

Rachel winked, Chloe had her own amused sound, and they both looked back to the engine.

Difficult conversations over with, Rachel finally brought up what she was _intending_ to all of this time.

“Sooooooooooo. You think you can get this thing running?”

Chloe tapped at the metal in front of her hands and grinned impishly.

“Yeah. I’m close. It’ll probably run like ass, but … I’ll keep working on it whenever we stop.”

Rachel made an amused sound and shook her head.

“Whenever we stop, we’re going to be exploring and having fun. Screw sitting around and working on this thing.”

Chloe laughed.

“Well … I either work on it in convenient places, or I work on it when we’re 100 miles from civilization and making do ‘cuz it just broke down.”

Chloe looked to Rachel with a sly smile.

“Which would you prefer?”

Rachel frowned.

“Oh, poo. Fine.”

She didn’t sound annoyed, though, and Chloe’s smile was infectious and Rachel’s frown only had so much endurance.

 

Later on, after Rachel ‘acquired’ some more parts for Chloe, they piled into the truck’s cabin, and crossed their fingers as Chloe put in the screwdriver.

The sun was setting, and it made everything a peaceful golden color.

She hesitated on turning the ignition, though, and looked over to Rachel with a small smile.

“Kiss for good luck?”

Rachel exhaled, amused, and scooted a bit closer to place a quick peck on her cheek.

“You don’t need an excuse to get a kiss out of me.”

Fuck.

Chloe exhaled a shaky breath, and tried to grin and play this off like of course, but she knew she was blushing again goddamn it.

Rachel just giggled, and, sensing that Chloe was broken, turned ‘key’ to the ignition herself.

Chloe meekly protested, but ---

 

The truck came to life.

 

Everything else faded into the background.

They both hollered, desperately excited.

Their dream was coming true.

After a few seconds of the rowdy excitement, Rachel firmly grasped Chloe by the cheeks and forced her into the most firm and forceful of kisses they had ever had.

But this time, when she pulled away, Chloe pushed into it.

Rachel blinked in her surprise, but.

She kinda liked it when Chloe asserted herself like this, too, and so was happy to receive the kiss that turned into some making out.

And it was just perfect.

Rachel was so happy.

Chloe was so happy.

They were seeing each other through this filter of the glorious golden glow of this time of day, and just –

Everything felt so right.

They had money.

They had supplies.

They had transportation.

But most importantly, they had each other.

This feeling is what Rachel sacrificed for.

What Chloe sacrificed for.

And they both desperately hoped that this feeling would never end.

This time, when Chloe put her hands on Rachel’s body, she knew she wanted them there.

Rachel placed her own hands on Chloe’s body in return, imitating her rubbing.

But when Chloe’s hands snuck under her tee –

Rachel blushed tremendously, breathed in sharply, and pulled away.

 

For a second or two, they just plainly stared at one another, eyes unblinking and unprocessing.

Mouths equally gaping and breathing equally harsh and heavy.

Rachel wasn’t sure how far she wanted to go with this.

Under the bravado of wanting to give everything she could to Rachel, Chloe wasn’t entirely sure herself.

It just felt right, then.

It took a second or two for Rachel’s brain to kick into the appropriate gear so that she could close her mouth and smile wryly instead.

This was kind of a bad time to be quiet, and whence Chloe rebooted herself, she’d probably feel a little rejected.

“Damn you move fast. Let’s … save a little bit, yeah?”

Chloe blinked, and it was hard not to feel rejected, but Rachel did have a point.

They were moving kinda fast.

But it just felt right?

“I mean … _fuck it_ , why wait if … we both want it?”

Rachel looked down with her smile, still.

Chloe’s attitude was so cute, and it was something Rachel understood fully.

But there was complications, here.

Chloe was a woman, and while Rachel didn’t understand what she wanted anymore, she wasn’t sure her attraction to Chloe went that deep.

What if they started and she found out Chloe just didn’t excite her?

That might shatter the poor girl.

Oh fuck, but did that mean she was leading her on right now?

Bad thoughts, bail, bail.

Rachel shook her head, slightly, and inched closer to give Chloe another kiss.

It felt so weird to be blushing this much, but that make out session was just so genuine and passionate, coming right off the high of a great moment …

She really liked kissing Chloe, she decided.

When this kiss ended, Rachel breathed in deeply and tried to steady her breathing.

“And do I want you.”

Fuck. That was a lie. Was it? At least the confidence was a lie. She had no clue how much she wanted Chloe’s hands to continue right then, if at all.

“But … I want it to be … magical. Just …”

Another deep breath, and damn her breathing still wasn’t steady,

“… imagine it. We spend … the entire day traveling and … we stop somewhere and … get lost in a city for a little bit … find some cheap pizza … raid a novelty store … take lots of cute photos … have a fancy dinner somewhere … maybe hit up some bars … then after all of that …”

Both Chloe and Rachel had closed their eyes to imagine it together, and they opened theirs at the same time.

“In some hotel … on a proper bed … we make magic … and never forget for the rest of our lives.”

Chloe bit her lip, but it was hard to deny how attractive and compelling this plan sounded.

Rachel bit her own lip, and knew she shouldn’t be promising something she might not be able to deliver, but …

She needed the time to think things through, and Chloe needed the help.

God did Chloe need the help.

Chloe eventually smiled, and nodded.

“That sounds … _awesome_.”

Rachel smiled herself.

“Right?”

Conveniently, the truck suddenly stalled, and the two of them groaned.

“Ugh. Guess we can’t keep idling for too long.”

Chloe restarted it with a scoff.

“Figures.”

Rachel put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder, and Chloe looked over to her with a smile.

Fuck, Chloe was so cute with those little smiles.

“Hey. You’re fucking amazing, you know that?”

If Chloe’s face wasn’t already consumed in blush, she’d be blushing furiously after such a direct compliment from Rachel.

“Y-yeah …”

It didn’t come out confident, because it wasn’t, but damn it if Chloe wasn’t trying, and the effort made Rachel smile wider.

“We’re doing great. This was huge. Now let’s put into drive and see how far we can go.”

Chloe nodded, and shifted into first.

Rachel slid into her side with her head on her shoulder again, and greedily stole one of Chloe’s hands to intertwine their fingers and squeeze her hand.

She still had so, so much to think about.

There were so many unknowns, but …

Chloe was fucking amazing, getting this truck working and all.

This wasn’t going to be easy, but Rachel was confident they could work through any problems one step at a time until they met their goals.

Chloe’s dad would have loved to see this.

Oooh. That’s a good one.

Rachel smirked and stored that in her mental database of lines to use later.

Carefully, the truck lurched forward.

But only about a foot or two before Chloe stopped, and the two of them blinked.

“We … probably should have cleared all of this junk away first.”

They both laughed, and Rachel pulled away to step out of the truck.

“We should probably get our crap out of the clubhouse, too …”

Chloe watched her go with a dazed smile.

Fuck, this day was just so perfect.

The truck stalled again, but Chloe just rolled her eyes and got out of the truck herself to start moving junk out of the way so they could drive out of here.

She had a lot to think about herself.

While she had less complications in going that far with Rachel – at least theoretically – it was hard to argue that their relationship had formed and evolved so quickly.

Could it last like this?

Was Rachel just her passion for now, which would eventually wane?

It was a puppy dog crush, after all.

When do those ever work out?

Ugh, no.

Rachel was amazing.

Even if they weren’t romantic or sexual or whatever, Chloe felt better than she ever had in years around Rachel.

And she’d do anything to keep this feeling, to keep this glimmer of hope.

Thud.

Some heavy piece of metal landed inelegantly out of the way as Chloe tossed it.

She’d moved a few pieces and was making progress, but just now realized Frank’s RV was here, which was kind of odd, since he usually was at the beach or near a place he could sell.

Not exactly a lot of clients here.

She peered at it for a few moments until the door opened and a lady in a brilliantly white dress stepped out.

She looked at Chloe, too.

Blink.

That was the person from –

“Need some help?”

Chloe just about jumped out of her skin as Rachel placed a hand on her shoulder.

She immediately looked to Rachel, and blinked a few times stupidly before smiling.

“Uhhhhh. Yeah. Lots of crap to move. Did you get our stuff in the truck?”

Rachel nodded.

“Yeah, but we’ll probably want to get a cover or something for the bed so rain or something doesn’t ruin it all … or some thief doesn’t steal it.”

Chloe scoffed.

“Because we have _so_ much stuff to steal.”

Rachel giggled and shook her head slightly while she leaned over to start picking up more of the stuff and move it out of the way.

Chloe just watched her.

“Hey, you just going to make me do all of the work, huh?”

Chloe smiled.

“It’d be … a nice change of pace, wouldn’t it?”

Rachel giggled again and stood up fully to face Chloe.

“Well. If you want some kisses later you’ll be helping me now.”

Chloe frowned and pouted.

“What. You’d hold that shit hostage?”

Rachel smiled.

“How about you shush and help me so we don’t have to find out?”

Chloe just rolled her eyes, but planned on moving this stuff herself anyway, so started to take to lifting more heavy chunks of metal.

When she looked back to Frank’s RV, though, the lady in white was gone.

Whatever.

 

Eventually, they had all of the junk out of the way, and they drove out of the junkyard.

Rachel still wanted Chloe’s hand, but had to compromise just playing with her arm, since the hand was needed for shifting.

Whatever.

 

\---

 

As the dilapidated truck pulled out to the road, the lady in white smiled, put her car into gear, and started to follow it.

“Mmm, faster than I thought …”

She followed behind with a great deal distance so there wouldn’t be any suspicions of them being followed.

And gently smoked her cigarette while enjoying the cool air and ride.

Life wasn’t about the destination, it was about the journey.

And she was going to enjoy this journey for all that it was worth.

She wondered where they would go.

And what they would do.

 

But the day was worn and the yellows of afternoon were fading to inky blue blackness of night.

They didn’t drive too far, only just outside of town to a cheap motel.

After they both got out of the truck and went inside, she carefully parked her car on the other side of the parking lot, and turned off her car.

They came out of the building they went into, kissed cutely for a few seconds, and the giggled loudly and excitedly ran to their room.

She smiled as she watched them go in, and adjusted her car’s seat to be more comfortable for laying in to settle in for the night.

She needed to be up before them to catch them before they left.

And hopefully she caught Rachel’s girlfriend, and not Rachel herself.

That conversation would be … difficult.

But whatever.

She could deal with anything if she put her mind to it.

Still smiling, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Lost in the possibilities of what Rachel might become.

Especially with this girl of hers by her side.

 

Such nice thoughts.


End file.
